The death toll of Americans killed in Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel last weekend increased to 22, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.
“At this time, we can confirm the deaths of at least 22 U.S. citizens,” the State Department said in a statement. “We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected.”
The White House later said that 17 Americans are still missing.
Israeli casualties also rose to more than 1,200 Israelis killed and nearly 3,000 injured as of Tuesday night. Approximately 1,500 Hamas terrorists have also been found dead inside Israel.
The terror attack occurred on Saturday when Hamas suddenly invaded Israel and deliberately slaughtered civilians, including women and children, and then mutilated their dead bodies.
Israel Defense Forces Major General Itai Veruv described the attack.
“It’s not a war, it’s not a battlefield — it’s a massacre,” he said. “You see the babies, the mother, the father, in their bedrooms in their protection rooms, and how the terrorists killed them. It’s something we used to imagine from our grandmothers, grandfathers in pogroms in Europe and other places.”
